Hey guys I've been meditating for a year now 10 to 20 min before I sleep but I can't seem to enjoy it, I have trouble breathing cause my belly is very tight and I can't seem to find the right posture to sit. I just keep doing it cause I'm looking to get the benefits of it but that's doing things with means to an end and that's not the purpose of it. I would appreciate some help or tips on this.

Find a different time of day. Meditating before bed often is difficult because of the natural tendency to go to sleep - even if you're sitting up. Your body is fatigued from a full day and its clock is naturally prone to shut down at this time.

As to benefits, they may not be clearly seen for some time. It's common not to recognize qualitative changes until looking back in time.

You can enjoy meditation all throughout your day. There is really no need to even close your eyes and may be better not to. Meditation is not so much about closing the eyes and shutting out the world, it's more about releasing thought and being present with whatever is there without analysis or consideration. It's a time to feel the nature of your own being inclusive with whatever content is present at the time.

There is more to you, to all of us, than our physical condition. There is also our true nature, our larger selves, and when we take frequent moments to feel our natural beingness, it allows our human nature to align with that true beingness. It is not an analytical process. It is a feeling connection. I would suggest that this is meditation's primary purpose - to effect this alignment.

Try this experiment. Hold as a focus of attention: "what am I?', not so much in words, but as a genuine interest. Don't look for word answers, just for a feeling or recognition. Do this some regularity. Also do some steady deep breathing to help with your focus.

In A New Earth, ET talks about being aware of your breath. He says it stills the mind. And that is something you can do any time of the day, if only for a few breaths. It is restful! Also, there are many forms of meditation. Although expensive, TM is certainly a proven technique that "worked" for me during a long period of my life.

Andy

A person is not a thing or a process, but an opening through which the universe manifests. - Martin Heidegger
There is not past, no future; everything flows in an eternal present. - James Joyce

AECH wrote:Hey guys I've been meditating for a year now 10 to 20 min before I sleep but I can't seem to enjoy it, I have trouble breathing cause my belly is very tight and I can't seem to find the right posture to sit. I just keep doing it cause I'm looking to get the benefits of it but that's doing things with means to an end and that's not the purpose of it. I would appreciate some help or tips on this.

I no longer have to try to meditate, thanks to Eckhart. (what a relief!)
As he says, i can be present even if just for a few seconds, throughout the day. And that is just what i do and i look at a plant or flower and admire its existence. This brings gratitude and all of this quiets the mind, which is my goal; no meditation needed. So perfect. Other than that, i listen to his tapes about twice a week. (He does have meditations you can do with him on you tube.)

My friend, a lot of us believe that meditation has to be an organized/scheduled activity ... in a specific environment, with a specific posture and for a specific duration.

However, Eckhart mentions in quite a few of his talks, that meditation really doesn't require all that. Meditation is all about just being present here and now, whenever/wherever possible.

To give you an example, let's say that one fine day, you're walking barefoot on grass, in a park, and you suddenly find yourself totally at peace. That's meditation right there ! Or, maybe you catch a glimpse of a beautiful sunset and it takes your breath (or your thinking) away ... that's meditation !

So, though it is not realistic for most of us, ideally, we'd be meditating our whole lives.

The point I'm making is ... try not to conceptualize meditation as an organized/scheduled activity. Try to make it more spontaneous. Try to make it just a normal part of your everyday life. Don't make it into a chore.